Houston Rockets center Usman Garuba recently expressed his desire to play with the Spain men’s national team in the upcoming EuroBasket 2022 competition.
Garuba, who was born in Madrid, played with the senior team for the first time last year at the Tokyo Olympics. He recorded four appearances, tallying four points and 11 rebounds as Spain were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the United States.
He mentioned the possibility of playing in an interview with AS.
I want to go to EuroBasket and I’m available for Sergio Scariolo. We are Spain and Spain is always in competition. We want to fight for medals despite the circumstances, despite the absences. We are ready for anything.
Garuba played sparingly in the Olympics in a Spanish team that also included veterans Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio and Willy Hernangomez, among others. However, the team might need Garuba this year with the availability of these players unknown for EuroBasket.
The 20-year-old was the Rockets’ 23rd pick last year and averaged two points and 3.5 rebounds in 24 games. He also spent time with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the NBA G League, averaging 9.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals in 11 games.
EuroBasket 2022 will take place from September 1 to 18 across Europe.
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